Small firms are struggling to protect the bright ideas and identity at the heart of their organisations, says the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
An FSB survey of 1,080 members found that one in three firms with intellectual property (IP) rights had put money into securing these rights within the last five years. Of those that had invested, a fifth spent more than £5,000.
Yet a quarter (25 per cent) of businesses with IP rights suffered a violation or wrongdoing in the last five years, with the most common problems including copying of a product (50 per cent), use of copyrighted work on a website (34 per cent), use of copyrighted work in a service or product for sale (33 per cent) and use of a trademark (31 per cent).
The survey findings, published on 3 June, found that around a third of small firms (29 per cent) who had IP stolen took no action against those responsible although two-fifths directly contacted the infringer to tackle the issue. Reasons given for not taking action included cost, a general lack of resources and a lack of awareness of appropriate routes.
The FSB said that 30 per cent of small businesses who owned intellectual property rights were dependent on it for between 75-100 per cent of their revenue, adding: “Infringements of these rights can be incredibly damaging to small businesses.”
John Allen, national chairman of the FSB, said: “Left unchecked, theft and infringement of ideas, patents and brand costs small businesses and diminishes their appetite to invest in their business, ultimately hampering the UK’s long-term economic growth.”
Protecting intellectual property rights through cost-effective measures including design rights, patents, trade marks and licensing is crucial to ensuring that others do not gain commercially from an individual or business’s innovative ideas and allows rights holders to maximise the financial value of their creativity.
For more information on measures to protect intellectual property, or on how to take action where IP rights have been breached, please contact BJ Chong or Matthew Johnson.